<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>One big happy by charcoalscenes</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29639697">One big happy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/charcoalscenes/pseuds/charcoalscenes'>charcoalscenes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Backdated Publications [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Gen, Humor, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2015-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2015-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:08:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,095</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29639697</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/charcoalscenes/pseuds/charcoalscenes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts with Ninety-six very sarcastically and with very little love calling Astral “dad.”</p>
<p>(Posted to AO3 on February 2021 with a Backdated Publication date from when it posted to Tumblr.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Astral &amp; No. 96 Black Mist | Dark Mist &amp; Tsukumo Yuuma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Backdated Publications [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2170983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>One big happy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Actual publication into AO3 is on February 2021. This is an old piece I shared on Tumblr and wanted to post using this site's Backdate feature. More older fics will likely be added onto the Backdated Publications series, so for anyone interested in this piece or in checking out the others, enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It starts with Ninety-six very sarcastically and with very little love calling Astral “dad.” Astral’s response is predictable: a quick sideways glare and a disapproving frown, but nothing else if not for Yuma’s sputter of, “H-</span>
  <em>
    <span>huh?</span>
  </em>
  <span> What?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing for </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> to concern yourself with,” Ninety-six answers, waving him off. “A mind as incompetent as yours, even for a human, couldn’t possibly comprehend–” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not in a literal sense, but,” Astral begins even as Ninety-six is still talking, and Ninety-six snaps their teeth shut in irritation once their own words are drowned out. “Ninety-six </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> come from me – granted, in a more literal sense than most of the other Numbers. They actually resided within me for thousands of years, too cowardly to come out until after I lost my memories and lost most of my powers. You would think they wouldn’t be, with how often they brag of being conceived in battle.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I was </span>
  </em>
  <b>biding</b>
  <em>
    <span> my </span>
  </em>
  <b>time</b>
  <span>,” Ninety-six snaps, glare honing in on Astral’s unimpressed stare and completely missing Yuma’s gawking. “Perhaps you’re not as smart as </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> brag yourself to be, but ‘battle’ means there’s some strategy accompanying it! I knew from the moment I was conscious of you that you would be an unworthy leader; it was only right that I planned from the moment of my conception to overthrow–” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, Ninety-six was </span>
  <em>
    <span>inside</span>
  </em>
  <span> you the </span>
  <em>
    <span>whole time</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Yuma asks to clarify. Ninety-six, silenced again, throws the brunt of their glare towards the other partner now, too. “Like, like an actual </span>
  <em>
    <span>baby?</span>
  </em>
  <span> That means when we saw Ninety-six for the first time, it was a ‘birth’; does that mean–” He points at the Number in question “–you’re actually, like, a baby?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ninety-six just barely reigns in the urge to grab Yuma by the collar and lift him, but Astral stands between them, exasperated. “No,” Astral all but sighs. “Although yes, this one acts like it. But as I said, none of this is literal. A close analogy, though.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Ninety-six yells. “you and I and </span>
  <em>
    <span>this one</span>
  </em>
  <span>–” They wave, blasé, at Yuma “–know very well that I am no </span>
  <em>
    <span>child</span>
  </em>
  <span>–” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It would explain a lot.” Yuma says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“–as i am </span>
  <em>
    <span>much too powerful</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be one–” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not if we compare my full powers to yours.” Astral points out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“–</span>
  <b>and, as I’ve </b>
  <b>
    <em>said</em>
  </b>
  <b>, I’ve retained consciousness long </b>
  <b>
    <em>before</em>
  </b>
  <b> our first meeting, and my knowledge is too vast for this ridiculous analogy</b>
  <span>–” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuma leans in towards Astral and asks quietly, “Is that even true?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have my doubts,” Astral confides, answering easily. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>I KNOW MORE FROM ALL MY YEARS OF EXISTENCE THAN YOU CAN EVER CONCEIVE OF, BOY.</b>
  <span>” Ninety-six roars, pointing accusingly at the both of them even as their own declaration really just addresses one. “I’ve seen the formation and deaths of stars, I was there when your very existence was merely a </span>
  <em>
    <span>possibility</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Do not refer to me as a child; I could have just as easily made my presence known years ago and made sure you were never even born!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, how were they born?” Yuma asks Astral, attention easily redirected again. Astral regards Ninety-six with a hand to their chin, considering, while Ninety-six themself rides on the verge of pulling their hair out, as well as the hairs of the other two occupants of the room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astral opens their mouth to answer, but Ninety-six takes their turn to interrupt. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>said</span>
  </em>
  <span>: in battle.” The answer is given through clenched, irate teeth. “The malice that the other fool, Don Thousand, directed at Astral rested inside them and helped create </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was all rather unfortunate,” Astral adds when no one fucking asked them. Yuma gasps at the mention of Don Thousand, the memories of their past struggles briefly playing in his mind. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>welcome</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Ninety-six sneers, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>dad</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Though the glee that accompanied the sarcastic phrase before is absent from the frustration of this whole conversation now, it’s still a bit of a reward to see Astral give such a look of distaste. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don Thousand is your </span>
  <em>
    <span>other</span>
  </em>
  <span> dad?” Yuma asks, tone high with disbelief but soft enough to make Ninety-six very suspicious of whether or not Yuma might </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually feel sorry for them for having such a worthless parent</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>NO.</b>
  <span>” Ninety-six really does make a grab for Yuma this time, or tries to. Astral blocks them from the human easily, almost looking bored while trying to restrain one of the strongest Numbers. “That fool is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>my fath– I don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> a father, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>brat</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” They correct. “What part of ‘calling Astral </span>
  <em>
    <span>dad</span>
  </em>
  <span> is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>joke</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ escapes you? What part of ‘this isn’t literal’ don’t you get?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It is moments before Ninety-six ceases attempting to wrap one of their limbs around Yuma’s body and pull or shake. Yuma remains unharmed while the entirety of Ninety-six’s pride feels like it’s been shattered and scattered in pieces all around them. They sit in a silly human chair in a silly human house in this silly planet like a </span>
  <em>
    <span>child</span>
  </em>
  <span> put in time-out by an elder, dizzy with their last tantrum and all the nuances of the topic which had brought it out. Every instinct they have tells them to just </span>
  <em>
    <span>try harder</span>
  </em>
  <span> in breaking everything nearby in rage, and they’re stopped by two pairs of eyes watching them from the doorway. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuma makes to speak again, and Ninety-six tells Astral, “Make him shut up.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuma’s mouth clicks shut, but through the indignation, Ninety-six can see a lack of the usual anger and distrust that have often met Ninety-six after another attempt at violence. The soft expression is more worrisome and threatening than any glower that Yuma has thrown their way before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Astral puts a placating hand on Yuma’s shoulder. “This is a sensitive subject for them,” they reason quietly, probably pretending that Ninety-six isn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>close enough to hear them talking about them</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Yuma nods in acknowledgment. “It is maybe best that we don’t bring it up often. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We</span>
  </em>
  <span> have to be good parents to them now.” The gentleness in Yuma’s face breaks, shattered like the last remnants of Ninety-six’s pride as both they and the human gape at Astral, who promptly shuts the door between the three of them. “It’s up to us.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ninety-six is unaware that just the </span>
  <em>
    <span>statement</span>
  </em>
  <span> had struck hard enough that they’d leaned back in their chair, head tilted up and eyes staring vacantly upward close to the ceiling. Astral’s words repeat themselves in their mind, and gradually, they registers the sarcasm and mocking that underlined them, vengeance for Ninety-six’s own patronizing returned much more subtly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>As</span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>TRAALL… </em>
  </b>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>